Cross Reference ITIL V3 and MOF 4.0

Microsoft® Operations Framework
Cross Reference ITIL® V3 and MOF 4.0
Published: May 2009

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Contents
Management Summary........................................... ............................1
Introduction to This Document.......................... .................................4
Background to IT Service Management....................... ........................5
Comparing Frameworks..........................................................5
Paradigms that Matter............................................................5
Introduction to ITIL and MOF........................................................ ....10
What is ITIL?.........................................................................10
What is MOF?........................................................................11
Alignment of ITIL and MOF................................... ............................13
Differences...........................................................................14
Positioning............................................................................15
Terminology and Definitions.................................................18
Training and Certification............................................................ ......19
ITIL Exams............................................................................19
MOF Exams...........................................................................20
Applying MOF and ITIL in Practice.................... ................................21
Sources.......................................................................................... ...22
Literature..............................................................................22
Further Information...............................................................22
Authors.................................................................................22
Reviewers.............................................................................22
Feedback..............................................................................23
Appendix A: Detailed Cross-Reference..............................................24
People...................................................................................24
Process.................................................................................24
Technology............................................................................25
Strategy, Tactics, Operations................................................25
Separation of Duties (SoD)...................................................31
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)....................................................31
Appendix B: Mapping of Processes, Activities, Functions, and Other
Elements....................................................................................... ....33

Management Summary
The Fastest Cars Have the Best Brakes…
(OCEG)
IT organizations are continuously challenged to deliver better IT services at lower

cost in a turbulent environment. Several management frameworks have been
developed to cope with this challenge, one of the best known being the IT
Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
© Crown copyright 2007. Reproduced under license from OGC.
Figure 1. The ITIL service lifecycle
Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) is Microsoft’s structured approach to

the same goal. In this paper, the main similarities and differences between both
frameworks are described.
Figure 2. The Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 service lifecycle
The analysis follows a number of management paradigms that have proven to be
essential to IT Service Management: [1] Process, People, and Technology (PPT),
[2] Strategy, Tactics and Operations (STO), [3] Separation of Duties (SoD), [4] the
Strategic Alignment Model Enhanced (SAME), and [5] Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-
Act Management Cycle.
At the highest level, both frameworks follow a lifecycle approach, but these
lifecycles are somewhat different. ITIL uses five elements for its lifecycle:
Strategy, Design, Transition, Operation, and Continual Improvement, which
brings it close to the PDCA model. MOF’s lifecycle core consists of only three
phases: Plan, Deliver, and Operate, with one underlying layer (Manage) covering
the components that apply to all lifecycle phases.
Both ITIL and MOF use processes and functions as building blocks, although the
emphasis differs significantly. ITIL labels most of its components as processes
and activities (ITIL has 26 Processes and four functions), while MOF is almost
entirely based on Service Management Functions (SMFs), each SMF having a
set of key processes, and each process having a set of key activities. This rigid
structure supports consistency throughout the framework.
In both frameworks, control of the lifecycle progress runs through a number of
transition milestones. These milestones have been made very explicit in MOF’s
Management Reviews (MRs).
Both frameworks apply the PDCA improvement approach throughout the
lifecycle. MOF, like ITIL, offers best-practice guidance that can be followed in full
but also in part, for addressing a subset of local problems. The “ITSM language”
is quite consistent between both frameworks, with only minor differences. But
there also are significant differences between the two frameworks.

6 Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0
A remarkable difference is the way customer calls are handled: ITIL separates
incident calls from operational service requests and change requests, and MOF
combines several customer request types in a single Customer Service SMF.
ITIL and MOF also use very different role sets and role titles. This is largely due
to the difference in starting points: ITIL works from the best practices
documented in each phase, where MOF starts from a structured organization
perspective.
An area of significant difference can be found in the approach the two
frameworks take to technology.
A key element of ITIL is that it is both vendor- and solution-agnostic—meaning,
the practices encouraged by ITIL can be applied across the board regardless of
the underlying technology. The result is that ITIL focuses on the management
structure that makes IT successful, rather than on the technology.
Distinctly different, Microsoft has created MOF to provide a common
management framework for its platform products, although MOF can easily be
used for other platforms.
Another difference is that ITIL is available in five core books that are sold through
various channels, while MOF is available on the internet for free, offering
practical guidance in various formats. As a consequence, ITIL copyright is highly
protected, where Microsoft made MOF content available under the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which makes it freely available for commercial
reuse.
Finally, ITIL offers a complex certification scheme for professionals, where
Microsoft currently limits its certification for MOF to just one MOF Foundation
examination. At the time of this writing, plans for further certifications are under
consideration, but no final decisions have been made.
The ITIL certification scheme is much more extensive, and, in effect, offers a
qualification structure that can offer a potential career path for IT professionals.
Both frameworks show plenty of similarities and can be used interchangeably in
practice. Both also have some specific features that may be of good use in a
specific case. Main focus of ITIL is on the “what,” where MOF concentrates on
the “what” as well as the “how.”

Introduction to This Document
“The new technology does not yet have a single established name. We
shall call it information technology.”
(Leavitt and Whisler in Harvard Business Review, 1958)
Awareness of the importance of IT services has grown fast in the last decade. As
a consequence, several management frameworks have been developed, to cope
with the challenges of providing adequate services. Since the late 1980s the field
of IT Service Management has been dominated by ITIL,owned by the UK Office
of Government Commerce (OGC). Before, as well as after the i of ITIL, several
other organizations have also developed and practiced their own management
frameworks to support the quality of their services. Most of these frameworks
provide similar guidance as documented in ITIL, but none has taken a flight as
high as ITIL.
To promote understanding about how these other frameworks relate to ITIL, a
number of alignment papers have been published. Papers published so far cover
alignment of ITIL with COBIT, ASL, and ISO/IEC 20000. This paper describes the
relationship between version 4 of Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and
Version 3 of ITIL. It is intended to support CIOs, IT managers, and IT
professionals in understanding the main characteristics of MOF 4.0 and how it
aligns to ITIL V3. The paper presents a short background analysis on the context
of IT Service Management, a short summary of the latest versions of ITIL and
MOF, and a detailed analysis of the similarities and differences between both
frameworks.

Background to IT Service Management

I kept six honest serving men,
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.
(Rudyard Kipling)
IT Service Management is the management of all people, processes, and

technology that cooperate to ensure the quality of live IT services, according to
the levels of service agreed with the customer. It is based on functions such as
systems management, network management, application development and on
process domains such as change management, service level management and
problem management.
The essential concept here is “IT service”: the delivery of information processing
capabilities in a defined quality (for example, capacity, performance, security, and
availability), using a combination of hardware, software, networks, people,
documentation and facilities. In practice, we use the term “IT service” at many
different levels: not only for the ultimate end user–facing information processing
function, but often also for infrastructural components of that service. Think of
“network access,” or “workstation.” Full IT services can be subdivided into many
contributing components, and all of these can be the subject of a specific service
organization. But in the end, the only thing that matters is how the integrated
functionality is made available to the end user.
To be able to deliver the IT service to the end user, all components need to be
managed. This is the raison d’etre of many functions and processes in the IT
service organization. ITIL and MOF are two of the frameworks available to the IT
service organization or department aiming for the highest quality at the lowest
cost in a turbulent environment. Ultimately IT Service Management can become
a business enabler.
Comparing Frameworks
When analyzing management frameworks, we can compare various
characteristics, as addressed by G.M. Wijers in his paper “Analyzing the
Structure of I.S. Development Methods: A Framework of Understanding” (SERC
and Delft University of Technology, 1992). First of all, the approach is important:
the way the framework is perceiving reality, the elements that are taken into
perspective, and their coherence. Second, the modeling technique is of
interest: the way reality is described in tangible structures (for example, IDEF0
schemes, process flows, practice documentation). Another important
consideration is the activation and implementation of the framework: the way
the framework is deployed, (for example, adopt or adapt, incremental, phased,
step-by-step, big-bang). Finally, the support structure is of interest: the
automated instruments available to support the method, such as schemes, tools,
documents, and templates.

Paradigms that Matter
A number of management paradigms have proven to be essential to IT Service
Management. These paradigms are used in the comparison of ITIL and MOF.
People - Process - Technology (PPT)
PEOPLE
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
Figure 3. The interrelationship of people, process, and technology

A widely accepted paradigm for defining the core focus areas in managing
organizational improvement is Process - People - Technology (PPT). When using
IT Service Management frameworks for organizational improvement, each of
these three areas should be addressed.
An important consequence of applying this paradigm is the separation of
functions from processes.
A process is a structured set of activities designed to accomplish a defined
objective in a measurable and repeatable manner, transforming inputs into
outputs. Processes result in a goal-oriented change, and utilize feedback for self-
enhancing and self-corrective actions.
MOF defines a process as interrelated tasks that, taken together, produce a
defined, desired result. A function is an organizational capability, a combination of
people, processes (activities), and technology, specialized in fulfilling a specific
type of work, and responsible for specific end results. Functions use processes.
MOF doesn’t offer a definition for function alone; rather, it defines the term
service management function (SMF) as a core part of MOF that provides
operational guidance for Microsoft technologies employed in computing
environments for information technology applications. SMFs help organizations
to achieve mission-critical system reliability, availability, supportability, and
manageability of IT solutions.

Strategy - Tactics - Operations (STO)
Strategy
Tactics
Operations
Figure 4. The interrelationship of strategy, tactics, and operations
A second important and widely applied approach to the management of
organizations is the paradigm of Strategy - Tactics - Operations. At a strategic
level an organization manages its long-term objectives in terms of identity, value,
relations, choices and preconditions. At the tactical level these objectives are
translated into specific goals that are directed and controlled. At the operational
level these goals are then translated into action plans and realized.
Separation of Duties (SoD)
Business Information Support

Information Technology
Business Information Technology

activities management management
determine design and build

and use control and run
Figure 5. Separation of Duties (SoD)

Information processing systems have one and only one goal: to support the
primary business processes of the customer organization. Applying the widely
accepted control mechanism of Separation of Duties (SoD), also known as
Separation of Control (SoC), we find a domain where information system
functionality is specified (Information Management), and another domain where
these specifications are realized (Technology Management). The output realized
by the Technology Management domain is the operational IT service used by the
customer in the Business domain.

The Strategic Alignment Model Enhanced (SAME)

The combination of STO and SoD delivers a very practical blueprint of
responsibility domains for the management of organizations: the Strategic
Alignment Model Enhanced (SAME; Van der Hoven, Hegger and Van Bon, 1998;
Van Bon and Hoving, 2007; Van Bon 2008).
BUSINESS I NFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DETE RMI NE /USE DES IGN/CONTROL BUI LD/RUN
T
C
STRATEG IC E
IR
D
L
O
R
T
N
O
TACTICAL /C
N
G
I
S
E
D
E
T
A
OPERATIONAL R
E
P
O
Figure 6. The SAME model

This blueprint provides excellent services in comparing the positions of
management frameworks, and in supporting discussions on the allocation of
responsibilities—for example, in discussions on outsourcing. It is used by a
growing number of universities, consultants and practitioners.

Deming Cycle (PDCA)
Figure 7. Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle

Since IT services are recognized as strategic business assets, organizations
need to continually improve the contribution of IT services to business functions,
in terms of better results at lower cost.
A widely accepted approach to continual improvement is Deming’s Plan-Do-
Check-Act Management Cycle. This implies a repeating pattern of improvement
efforts with varying levels of intensity. The cycle is often pictured, rolling up a
slope of quality improvement, touching it in the order of P-D-C-A, with quality
assurance preventing it from rolling back down.

Introduction to ITIL and MOF

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice
there is.
(Yogi Berra)
What is ITIL?
ITIL offers a broad approach to the delivery of quality IT services. ITIL was
initially developed in the 1980s and 1990s by CCTA (Central Computer and
Telecommunications Agency, now the Office of Government Commerce, OGC),
under contract to the UK Government. Since then, ITIL has provided not only a
best practice based framework, but also an approach and philosophy shared by
the people who work with it in practice.
Main Structure: The Service Lifecycle

ITIL Version 3 (2007) approaches service management from the lifecycle of a
service. The Service Lifecycle is an organization model providing insight into the
way service management is structured, the way the various lifecycle components
are linked to each other and to the entire lifecycle system.
The Service Lifecycle consists of five components. Each volume of the ITIL V3
core books describes one of these components:
• Service Strategy
• Service Design
• Service Transition
• Service Operation
• Continual Service Improvement

© Crown copyright 2007. Reproduced under license from OGC.
Figure 8. The ITIL V3 Service Lifecycle

Service Strategy is the axis of the Service Lifecycle that defines all other phases;
it is the phase of policymaking and objectives. The phases Service Design,
Service Transition, and Service Operation implement this strategy, their continual
theme is adjustment and change. The Continual Service Improvement phase
stands for learning and improving, and embraces all cycle phases. This phase
initiates improvement programs and projects, and prioritizes them based on the
strategic objectives of the organization.
Main components
Each phase is run by a system of processes, activities and functions that
describe how things should be done. The subsystems of the five phases are
interrelated and most processes have overlap into another phase.
What is MOF?
First released in 1999, Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) is Microsoft’s
structured approach to helping its customers achieve operational excellence
across the entire IT service lifecycle. MOF was originally created to give IT
professionals the knowledge and processes required to align their work in
managing Microsoft platforms cost-effectively and to achieve high reliability and
security. The new version, MOF 4.0, was built to respond to the new challenges
for IT: demonstrating IT's business value, responding to regulatory requirements
and improving organizational capability. It also integrates best practices from
Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF).
MOF offers practical guidance for everyday tasks and activities, and last but not
least - its entire documentation is free for use, and even for reuse under the
under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Main Structure: IT Service Lifecycle

The IT service lifecycle describes the life of an IT service, from planning and
optimizing the IT service and aligning it with the business strategy, through the
design and delivery of the IT service in conformance with customer requirements,
to its ongoing operation and support, delivering it to the user community.
Underlying all of this is a foundation of IT governance, risk management,
compliance, team organization, and change management.
The IT service lifecycle of MOF is composed of three ongoing phases and one
foundational layer that operates throughout all of the other phases:
• Plan phase: plan and optimize an IT service strategy in order to support
business goals and objectives.
• Deliver phase: ensure that IT services are developed effectively, deployed
successfully, and ready for Operations.
• Operate phase: ensure that IT services are operated, maintained, and
supported in a way that meets business needs and expectations.
• Manage layer: the foundation of the IT service lifecycle. This layer is
concerned with IT governance, risk, compliance, roles and responsibilities,
change management, and configuration. Processes in this layer apply to all
phases of the lifecycle.

Figure 9. The MOF 4.0 IT Service Lifecycle, showing phases, SMFs and
management reviews
Main Components
Each phase of the IT service lifecycle contains Service Management Functions
(SMFs) that define and structure the processes, people, and activities required to
align IT services to the requirements of the business. The SMFs are grouped
together in phases that mirror the IT service lifecycle. Each SMF is anchored
within a lifecycle phase and contains a unique set of goals and outcomes
supporting the objectives of that phase.
Each SMF has three to six key processes. Each SMF process has one to six key
activities.
For each phase in the lifecycle, Management Reviews (MRs) serve to bring
together information and people to determine the status of IT services and to
establish readiness to move forward in the lifecycle. MRs are internal controls
that provide management validation checks, ensuring that goals are being
achieved in an appropriate fashion, and that business value is considered
throughout the IT service lifecycle.

Alignment of ITIL and MOF

People never have enough time to do work properly, but they always have
enough time to do it over.
(Patrick O'Beirne)
In terms of the approach, both frameworks use a lifecycle structure at the

highest level of design. Furthermore, both use processes and functions, although
the emphasis differs significantly: ITIL describes many components in terms of
processes and activities, with only a few functions, while MOF is almost entirely
based on Service Management Functions. This difference is not as severe as it
looks at first hand, since ITIL uses the term “process” for many components that
actually are functions.
ITIL follows a phased approach in the lifecycle, and most of the components
described in one phase also apply, to a greater or lesser extent, to other phases.
The control of the MOF lifecycle is much more discrete, using specific milestones
that mark the progress through the various stages in the lifecycle. MOF
components that apply to more than one of these three lifecycle phases are
separated from the lifecycle phases and described in an underlying Management
Layer.
Both frameworks are best characterized as “practice frameworks” and not
“process frameworks.” The main difference is that ITIL focuses more on the
“what,” and MOF covers both the “what” and the “how.”
The modeling techniques of ITIL and MOF are not that much different at first
sight: both frameworks use extensive text descriptions, supported by flowcharts
and schemes. ITIL documents its best practices by presenting processes,
activities, and functions per phase of its lifecycle. MOF components have a rigid
structure: each SMF has key processes, each process has key activities, and
documentation on SMFs and MRs is structured in a very concise format,
covering inputs, outputs, key questions, and best practices for each component.
This rigid structure supports consistency throughout the framework and supports
the user in applying a selection of MOF components for the most urgent local
problems.
The activation and implementation of ITIL and MOF are not really part of the
framework documentation. ITIL has been advocating the “Adopt and Adapt”
approach. Supporting structures like organizational roles and skills are described
for each phase, but implementation guidance is not documented. MOF, like ITIL,
offers best practice guidance that can be followed in full but also in part, for
addressing a subset of local problems. Both frameworks speak of “guidance,”
leaving the actual decisions on how to apply it to the practitioner.
Support structures for ITIL are not really part of the core documents: although a
huge range of products claim compatibility with ITIL, and several unofficial
accreditation systems exist in the field, the core books stay far from commercial
products and from product certification, due to a desire to remain vendor-neutral.
MOF compatibility, on the other hand, is substantially established. Microsoft
aligns a broad set of tools from its platform with the MOF framework. And
although MOF is not exclusively applicable for these Microsoft management
products, the documentation at Microsoft’s TechNet website provides detailed
information on the use of specific products from the Microsoft platform.

Differences
Although ITIL and MOF share many values, the two frameworks also show some
significant differences.
• Cost: ITIL is available in 5 core books that are sold through various channels,
but MOF is available on the internet for free. As a consequence, ITIL
copyright is highly protected, where Microsoft made MOF content available
under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which makes it freely
available for commercial reuse.
• Development: in the latest versions, both ITIL and MOF spent considerable
energy on documenting the development of new services and the adjustment
of existing services. In addition, ITIL is constantly reviewed via the Change
Control Log, where issues and improvements are suggested and then
reviewed by a panel of experts who sit on the Change Advisory Board. The
ITIL Service Design phase concentrates on service design principles, where
the Deliver Phase in MOF concentrates on the actual development of
services. The approach taken in MOF is heavily based on project
management principles, emphasizing the project nature of this lifecycle
phase.
• Reporting: ITIL has a specific entity that describes Reporting, in the
Continual Service Improvement phase, where MOF has integrated reporting
as a standard activity in SMFs.
• Call handling: ITIL V2 showed a combined handling of incidents and service
requests in one process, but in ITIL V3 incident restoration and service
request fulfillment were turned into two separately treated practices. MOF on
the other hand stays much closer to the ITIL V2 practice, combining several
customer requests in one activity flow, for incident restoration requests,
information requests, service fulfillment requests, and new service requests.
If the request involves a new or non-standard service, a separate change
process can be triggered.
• Lifecycle construction: Most elements of ITIL are documented in one and
only one of the five core books, but it is then explained they actually cover
various phases of the ITIL lifecycle. ITIL uses five elements for its lifecycle:
Strategy, Design, Transition, Operation, and Continual Improvement, which
brings it close to the PDCA model. MOF’s lifecycle comprises only three
phases: Plan, Deliver, Operate, with one underlying layer covering the
components that apply to all lifecycle phases. As a consequence, a number
of practices are applied all over the MOF lifecycle, but in ITIL these are
mostly described in one or a few lifecycle phases. As an example, risk
management is part of the Manage layer in MOF, but in ITIL it is mainly
restricted to Strategy and Continual Improvement. The same goes for change
and configuration management: throughout the MOF lifecycle but in ITIL
these are concentrated in the Transition phase.
• Organization: ITIL describes roles and organizational structures in each
lifecycle phase. MOF supports best practices for organizational structures by
applying the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) approach: throughout the
MOF lifecycle responsibilities are documented and accountability is made
explicit, and general rules are allocated to the underlying Manage layer.
• Governance: Both frameworks illustrate the difference between governance
and management. ITIL describes governance theory and practice in the
Strategy phase and in the CSI phase of its lifecycle, and refers to governance
requirements in most other phases. MOF explicitly documents accountability
and responsibility in all of its lifecycle phases and in the Manage layer,
identifying decision makers and stakeholders, and addressing performance
evaluation. MOF specifically addresses risk management and compliance in
the Manage layer, supporting governance throughout the lifecycle. Explicit
Management Reviews are used throughout the MOF framework as control
mechanisms.
Positioning
This section will show how ITIL and MOF are positioned in the main paradigms,
as discussed before. Appendix A shows the differences in more detail.
Lifecycle
On a high level, the lifecycles of ITIL and MOF appear to be rather similar,
although the phases cannot be compared on a one-to-one basis.
ITIL Service ITIL Service ITIL Service ITILService ITIL Continual

Strategy Design Transition Operation Service
Improvement
PLAN
BusinessIT Port folio
Alignment,
Reliabilit y, Policy,
Financial mgt
Service
Alignment DELIVER
Envision, Project Planning, Build, Stabilize,
Deploy
Project
plan
OPERATE
approved Operations,
Release Service Monitoring&
Readiness
Control,
Customerservice, Opera-
Problemmgt tional
healt h
Policy &
Contr ol
MANAGE
GRC,Change & Configuration, Team
Figure 10. Comparing the lifecycles

There are some major differences between ITIL and MOF lifecycles:
• ITIL lifecycle phases contain processes, activities, and functions that also
apply to other phases. In MOF, the SMFs that apply to more than one phase
have been filtered out and grouped in the Manage layer, supporting the entire
MOF lifecycle.
• MOF lifecycle phase transitions are managed through several Management
Reviews (MRs). These MRs serve to determine the status of IT services and
to establish readiness to move forward in the lifecycle. ITIL also uses a
number of readiness tests for progress control in the lifecycle phases, but
these are less explicit.
People - Process - Technology (PPT)

80 percent of unplanned downtime is caused by people and process
issues, including poor change management practices, while the remainder
is caused by technology failures and disasters.
(Donna Scott, Gartner, Inc., 2003)
Both ITIL and MOF have a strong focus on processes. Both frameworks
document the activities that need to be performed to cope with everyday
problems and tasks in service organizations. Both frameworks also use the same
formal definition of “process,” based on widely accepted ISO standards.
However, in both cases the framework documentation is largely presented in a
mix of process, people, and some technology, and therefore in the format of
procedures, work instructions, and functions. This is for good reasons, because it
addresses the actual perception of what people experience in their daily practice.
Readers looking for “pure process descriptions” or process “models” will not find
these in ITIL nor in MOF. And although ITIL uses the term “process” for many of
its components, most of these components are actually functions. MOF uses the
term Service Management Function throughout the framework.
Organizational structures are documented quite differently in both frameworks.
Individual ITIL roles and MOF roles show some overlap, but both frameworks
contain a long list of unique roles. This is largely based on the difference in
viewpoint: ITIL works from its practices towards a detailed roles spectrum, and
MOF works from a number of basic accountabilities: Support, Operations,
Service, Compliance, Architecture, Solutions, and Management. MOF applies the
MSF framework as a reference system for these organizational structures,
supporting the performance of the organization. In larger organizations the MOF
roles can be refined into more detailed structures, but in most organizations the
roles are sufficient. The Team SMF of MOF is explicitly focused on the
management of IT staff.
Technology is only covered at an abstract level in ITIL: the framework stays far
from commercial products and only describes some basic requirements. MOF on
the other hand is deeply interwoven with technology solutions. Although MOF
has been defined in such a way that it is not technology-specific, the Microsoft
technology platform highly aligns with the practices documented in MOF. The
MOF website is embedded in the rest of the TechNet documentation on Microsoft
products.
STO and SoD, in SAME

Strategic levels are covered in both frameworks. ITIL documents its best
practices on long-term decisions in the Strategy phase. MOF does the very same
in the Plan phase, and supports this in the Manage layer.
Tactical levels are covered in a similar way: ITIL concentrates these in the
Service Design and CSI phase, and MOF describes its tactical guidance in the
Deliver phase, in the Manage layer and in the Operate phase (Problem
Management).
Operational levels are covered mainly in a single phase in both frameworks; ITIL
has its Service Operation phase, and MOF has its Operate phase.
The ITIL lifecycle phases are positioned mainly in the Technology Management
domain, emphasizing that ITIL explicitly supports the organizations that deliver IT
services. The activities that relate to the specification of the service requirements
and the management of enterprise data architectures are typically found in the
middle column of the 3x3 SAME matrix.

BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY
SERVICE STRATEGY
CONTINUAL
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
TACTICS
SERVICE
DESIGN
SERVICE
TRANSITION
OPERATIONS
SERVICE
OPERATION
Figure 11. Positioning ITIL in the 3x3 SAME matrix

This also applies to MOF. The MOF Plan phase is largely positioned at the
Strategy level, but also concentrates on the Technology Management domain.
The Deliver phase is positioned similarly, but then on tactical and operational
levels. The Operate phase clearly works at the operational level of the
Technology Management domain, except for the very tactical practice of Problem
Management.
The Manage layer in MOF relates to all three management levels, but also
concentrates at the Technology Management domain.

BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY
PLAN
MANAGE
TACTICS
DELIVER
OPERATE
OPERATIONS
Figure 12. Positioning MOF in the 3x3 SAME matrix

As a consequence, both frameworks require that elements from additional
frameworks like TOGAF, ISO27001, CobiT, M_o_R®, BiSL, FSM, and MSP™,
are applied for managing the rest of the overarching Information Support domain.
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
ITIL explicitly follows Demings PDCA management improvement cycle, for
implementing the CSI phase, for implementing the Information Security function
in the Service Design phase and for the continual improvement of services,
processes, and functions throughout the service lifecycle.
MOF does not explicitly list PDCA as a mechanism, but it follows its principles
throughout the lifecycle, in all SMFs. Plan-do-check is elementary to the
implementation of all SMFs, and various check-act points can be found in the
very explicit Management Reviews throughout the MOF framework.
Terminology and Definitions

The “ITSM language” is quite consistent between both frameworks, with only
minor differences. For example, where ITIL uses the term Change Schedule,
MOF uses Forward Schedule of Change. Such small differences shouldn’t be a
problem in practice.
Of course both frameworks use some typical terminology that illustrates some of
their unique characteristics:
• The ITIL core terms utility and warranty, fit for purpose and fit for use, are not
used in MOF, and neither are terms like service package – although MOF
speaks of “packaged products” in general terms.
• Likewise, some explicit MOF terms, like customer service management,
stabilize, and issue-tracking, are not used—or are used differently—in ITIL.
Both frameworks use the term “process” in a rather loose context. Many
components in ITIL and MOF, labeled as a process, are in fact not described in
process formats, but actually as functions, procedures, steps in a process, or
activities.
More detailed information on the alignment between ITIL and MOF can be found
in Appendix B.

Training and Certification

Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.
(Mark Twain)
ITIL Exams
In 2007 OGC appointed the APM Group (APMG) as the official accreditor for ITIL
certification, and to run an accreditation, examination, and certification scheme.
APMG launched a new certification scheme for ITIL, based on ITIL V3. The
existing scheme on ITIL V2 will be maintained for a transition period..
The system of qualifications for ITIL v3 has four qualification levels:
• Foundation Level
• Intermediate Level (Lifecycle Stream, Capability Stream, and Managing
Across the Lifecycle)
• ITIL Expert
• ITIL Master
The scheme is supported by a Foundation Bridging Course, to bring practitioners
from ITIL V2 to ITIL V3.
Figure 13. The ITIL qualification scheme

Professional qualifications based on ITIL are offered by Examination Institutes,
accredited by APM Group through the ITIL Qualifications Board. Examination
Institutes are permitted to operate an ITIL examination scheme through a
network of Accredited Training Organizations, and Accredited Trainers with
Accredited materials.

For more information about the ITIL V3 Qualification Scheme, see http://www.itil-
officialsite.com/qualifications.
MOF Exams
Microsoft currently limits its certification on MOF to one MOF Foundation
examination. The ongoing thinking and work about what an advanced
certification might include is still in early stage.
Foundation-level MOF training is currently available through MOF training
partners, through some MS gold partners, and through Microsoft Services. A
foundation-level certification is available through EXIN Exams; see
http://www.exin-exams.com/.

Applying MOF and ITIL in Practice

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for
people to work.
(Peter F. Drucker)
Both ITIL and MOF advocate the use of elements of the framework, if the full set
is too much for an organization.
ITIL consists of five core publications, each covering a group of processes,
functions, and activities. Training on ITIL starts with a focus at the lifecycle, then
zooming in to the framework components. MOF offers all of its guidance at the
TechNet website, offering access to the framework at any level required.
In practice, only very few organizations apply the full guidance of either
framework. Most often, organizations start out with those components that
address the biggest problems. This is no different for ITIL or MOF. Among the
most popular content we find the guidance on change and configuration, on
incident restoration/customer service support, on service level management and
business/IT alignment, and on problem management.
Published case material that proves the value of implementing ITIL or MOF is
extremely rare. Business cases mostly involve factors like quality improvement, a
rather intangible factor. Nevertheless, implementations of framework components
can often be based on a business case approach. Measuring initial state
performance metrics and comparing these to the situation after implementation,
can then support the adoption of additional components of the framework.
Both ITIL and MOF are reference frameworks and not implementation models.
The documented best practices can be used within the local approach of an
organization, provided they have developed their own process model to support
their organization and technology dimensions. An organization can develop its
own model or use an out-of-the-box model available in the market.
When redesigning an organization, using ITIL or MOF and following the People -
Process - Technology paradigm, a process model would most likely be the start
of the project: organizations should first decide on what they want to do, then
decide on who they need for the job, and then facilitate the organization with
adequate technology to achieve these goals (the how).
Although processes may be expected to be standard throughout the IT services
industry, standardized pure process models are hardly available in the market. In
most organizations, the people dimension is unique, just like the technology
dimension: most organizations differ in structure, culture, behavior, and history,
and the supporting technology comes in many flavors. This way, each
implementation project is influenced by a rather unique combination of local
factors, and on top of that we hardly find any greenfield situations.
Given this situation, MOF supports implementation projects by making the
framework components available in standardized structures, allowing
implementation managers to pick the required components and add these to the
scope of their specific project. The structure of the framework furthermore aligns
firmly to common project management standards, allowing for an easy fit.
Implementing MOF is supported by ongoing evolution of MOF guidance, and by
the support of the online MOF community at the TechNet website.
Sources
Literature
• Microsoft, Microsoft Operations Framework, 2008
• OGC, Service Strategy, 2007
• OGC, Service Design, 2007
• OGC, Service Transition, 2007
• OGC, Service Operation, 2007
• OGC, Continual Service Improvement, 2007
• Van Bon, J. “This is NOT IT Governance,” in: UPGRADE, The European
Journal for the Informatics professional, Vol. IX, No. 1, February 2008.
• Van Bon, J. and W. Hoving. SAME – the Strategic Alignment Model
Enhanced. ITSM PORTAL, 2007.
• Van der Hoven, D.J., G. hegger, J. van Bon. BII: Beheer van de interne
informatievoorziening. In: IT Beheer Jaarboek 1998, Ten Hagen and Stam,
1998.
• Wijers, G., P.S. Seligmann and H.G. Sol. “Analyzing the Structure of I.S.
Development Methods: a framework of understanding.” SERC and Delft
University of Technology, 1992.
Further Information
• On ITIL: APMG, TSO, and OGC manage the information on ITIL at
http://www.itil-officialsite.com/.
• On ITIL certification: see http://www.itil-officialsite.com/qualifications.
• On MOF: Extensive documentation on MOF, and detailed guidance on the
use of Microsoft platform products, can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/mof.
• On MOF certification: see http://www.exin-exams.com/.
Authors
• Jan van Bon, the chief editor of numerous ITSM titles and CEO of Inform-IT,
is deeply involved with the development of the IT Service Management
discipline, ITIL and other management frameworks, since 1990. Since 1996
he has constantly worked for itSMF, as a project manager for several of
itSMF's activities, as content manager for dozens of itSMF events, and as a
professional managing editor for most of the itSMF publications. He has
produced around 70 books on IT Service Management, some of them in up to
13 languages; in addition he has been the driving force behind several
websites for the ITSM international community-of-practice.
• Jerry Dyer is a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft. Dyer was the content
architect for MOF 4.0, which was released in April of 2008.

Reviewers
This paper was reviewed by a number of well-known experts in IT Service
Management, with deep knowledge of ITIL and MOF. We thank Rolf Akker (ICT
Strategist at Gasunie and co-author of the MOF v2 pocket guide), Malcolm Fry
(Independent Service Management Analyst at FRY-Consultants), Wim Hoving
(CEO at BHVB), Paul Leenards (Principal Consultant and Practice Lead Service
Strategy and Transformation at Getronics Consulting), and Gary Roos (Principal
Operations Consultant at Microsoft) for their support.
Feedback
Please direct questions and comments about this guide to mof@microsoft.com.
Solution Accelerators Satisfaction Survey
We value your feedback. Please fill out this survey and help us build better
guidance and tools, including the Microsoft Operations Framework Companion
Guides.

Appendix A: Detailed Cross-Reference
This appendix contains a more detailed discussion of MOF versus ITIL, along the
paradigms.
People
ITIL and MOF use different role sets and role titles. This is largely due to the
difference in starting points: ITIL works from the best practices documented in
each phase, where MOF starts from the organization perspective. As an
example, ITIL defines a Finance Manager responsible for the Financial
Management process, and MOF knows financial managers, who in fact are the
financial experts active in managing finances.
MOF also incorporates the results of the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF),
covering extensive guidance on how to organize people and projects to plan,
build, and deploy successful IT solutions.
A number of elementary roles are used in both frameworks—for example,
process-based roles like Service Level Manager, Supplier Manager, Portfolio
Manager, Change Manager, Change advisory board (CAB), Release Manager,
Configuration Manager/Administrator, Incident Manager/Resolver, Problem
Manager, Operations Manager, activity-based roles like Architect, Developer, Test
Manager, Operator, User, and Customer.
Other ITIL roles, such as Service Catalog Manager, Service Design Manager,
and Availability Manager, are not explicitly found in MOF.
Like ITIL, MOF uses some typical roles, determined by specific and unique MOF
content, such as IT Policy Manager, Risk and Compliance Manager, Reliability
Manager, Internal Control Manager, Customer Services Representative, Tester,
Product Manager, User Experience, Solution Manager, Administrator, Technology
Area Manager, Monitoring Manager, and Scheduling Manager.
Some roles are truly different. For example, ITIL uses the “project manager” role
for the leader of a project, where MOF defines a project manager as someone
with project management skills, but not necessarily the leader of a project.
Sometimes the difference is simply a matter of chosen words, such as where ITIL
uses Business Relationship Manager and MOF uses Account Manager.
Process
ITIL and MOF follow the same definition of “process”:
• ITIL: A structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective.
• MOF: Interrelated tasks that, taken together, produce a defined, desired
result.
This definition is derived from a common ISO definition that can at best be taken
as “A sequence of interrelated or interacting activities designed to accomplish a
defined objective in a measurable and repeatable manner, transforming inputs
into outputs.” Both frameworks apply this definition in a very loose context: many
practices, activities, and functions are labeled “process,” but not documented as
such. Instead these framework components are often constructed as
organizational capabilities, composed from People, Process, and Technology

elements.
Therefore, comparing ITIL “processes” with MOF “processes” is not very useful.
Addressing all components as “practices” leaves the reader with a much better
reference framework for comparing the two. This cross-reference, based on
practices, is offered in Appendix B.
Technology
Technology can take different shapes, ranging from workflow support systems
and system management tools, to framework-typical supporting structures like a
CMS or a Service Catalog.
ITIL doesn’t provide much detail on supporting technology and tools. It offers
chapters on Technology Considerations, but these are restricted to high-level
considerations of the “what.”
Distinctly different, Microsoft has created MOF to provide a common
management framework for its platform products. And although MOF can easily
be used for other platforms, the integration between Microsoft products and the
MOF management framework is a core development target.
Like the practices in both frameworks, from a 10,000 feet viewpoint the
framework-typical structures do not differ much. Both frameworks use structures
like Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Operational Level Agreements (OLAs),
Underpinning Contracts (UCs), Configuration Items (CIs), Configuration
Management Systems (CMSs) and Configuration Management Databases
(CMDBs), Definitive Software Libraries (DSLs), a Change Schedule (CS in ITIL)
or a Forward Schedule of Change (FSC in MOF), Known Error Databases
(KEDs), Service Catalogues (SCs) and Service Portfolios (SPs), Business
Continuity Plans (BCPs), Business Impact Analyses (BIAs), Post Implementation
Reviews (PIRs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs in ITIL) or Operations
Guides (OGs in MOF), RACI, and use cases.
Of course some structures are mentioned specifically in one framework and not
in the other: ITIL uses a Capacity Management Information System (CMIS), an
Information Security Management System (ISMS), and MOF uses an Issue-
Tracking Database.
Strategy, Tactics, Operations

ITIL offers extensive guidance on Service Strategy, providing a theoretical base
for strategic decisions, explaining the “what,” but apart from the information in the
first of the five ITIL core books, most of the other books focus at a tactical or
operational level. MOF follows the same pattern, and focuses more at the
practical everyday tasks and activities in service organizations. Most strategic
components of both frameworks also have a tactical “load.” Tables A-1 and A-2
show the elements at the Strategic/Tactical and Operational levels.
Table A-1. Main Focus of MOF Framework Components at Strategic,
Tactical, or Operational Level
SMFs, processes and management reviews S T O
Business/IT Alignment
Process 1: Define an IT Service Strategy
Process 2: Identify and Map Services
Process 3: Identify Demand and Manage Business
Requests
Process 4: Develop and Evaluate IT Service
Portfolio
Process 5: Service Level Management
Reliability
Process 1: Planning
Process 2: Implementation
Process 3: Monitoring and Improving Plans
Policy
Process 1: Determine Areas Requiring Policy
Process 2: Create Policies
Process 3: Validate Policy
Process 4: Publish Policy
Process 5: Enforce and Evaluate Policy
Process 6: Review and Maintain Policy
Financial Management
Process 1: Establish Service Requirements and
Plan Budget
Process 2: Manage Finances
Process 3: Perform IT Accounting and Reporting
Envision
Process 1: Organize the Core Team
Process 2: Write the Vision/Scope Document
Process 3: Approve the Vision/Scope Document
Project Planning
Process 1: Evaluate Products and Technologies
Process 2: Write the Functional Specification
Process 3: Package the Master Project Plan
Process 4: Create the Master Schedule
Process 5: Review the Project Plans Approved
Milestone
Build
Process 1: Prepare for Development
Process 2: Develop the Solution
Process 3: Prepare for Release
Process 4: Review the Scope Complete Milestone
Stabilize

Process 1: Stabilize a Release Candidate
Process 2: Conduct a Pilot Test
Process 3: Review the Release Readiness
Milestone
Deploy
Process 1: Deploy Core Components
Process 2: Deploy Sites
Process 3: Stabilize Deployment
Process 4: Review the Deployment Complete
Milestone
Operations
Process 1: Define Operational Work Requirements
Process 2: Build Operational Work Instructions
Process 3: Plan Operational Work
Process 4: Execute Operational Work
Process 5: Maintain Operational Work Instructions
Process 6: Manage Operational Work
Service Monitoring and Control
Process 1: Define Service Monitoring Requirements
Process 2: Implement New Service
Process 3: Continuous Monitoring
Process 4: Control and Reporting
Customer Service
Process 1: Record the User’s Request
Process 1a: Record the User’s Contact Information
Process 1b: Record Details of the User’s Request
Process 2: Classify the User’s Request
Process 2a: Categorize the User’s Request
Process 2b: Determine Supportability
Process 2c: Prioritize the Request
Process 3: Resolve the Request
Process 3a: Resolve an Information Request
Process 3b: Resolve a Request for an Existing
Feature or Service
Process 3c: Resolve a Request for a New Feature
or Service
Process 3c1: Filter the New Service Request
Process 3c2: Handling a Standard Change New
Service Request

Process 3c3: Handling a Non-Standard Change
New Service Request
Process 3d: Resolve an Incident Resolution
Request
Process 3d1: Troubleshoot the Incident
Process 3d2: Escalate the Request
Process 3d3: Apply a Fix or Workaround
Process 4: Confirm Resolution and Close the
Request
Process 5: Ensure Good Service
Process 5a: Service Desk Quality Assurance
Process 5b: SLA Monitoring and Metrics
Problem Management
Process 1: Document the Problem
Process 2: Filter the Problem
Process 3: Research the Problem
Process 4: Research the Outcome
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Process 1: Establish IT Governance
Process 2: Assess, Monitor, and Control Risk
Process 3: Comply with Directives
Change and Configuration
Process 1: Baseline the Configuration
Process 2: Initiate the Change
Process 3: Classify the Change
Process 4: Approve and Schedule the Change
Process 5: Develop and Test the Change
Process 6: Release the Change
Process 7: Validate and Review the Change
Team
Process 1: Identify Changes Needed
Process 2: Align Responsibilities
Process 3: Assign Roles
Service Alignment Management Review
Portfolio Management Review
Project Plan Approved Management Review
Release Readiness Management Review
Policy and Control Management Review
Operational Health Management Review

Table A-2. Main Focus of ITIL Framework Components at Strategic, Tactical,
or Operational Level
Processes, activities and functions S T O
Service Strategy
Define the market
Develop the offerings
Develop strategic assets
Prepare for execution
Financial Management
Demand Management
Service Portfolio Management
Service Design
Service Catalogue Management
Service Level Management
Capacity Management
Availability Management
Security Management
IT Service Continuity Management
Supplier Management
Requirements Engineering
Data and Information Management
Application Management
Service Transition
Transition Planning and Support
Change Management
Service Validation and Testing
Evaluation
Release and Deployment Management
Service Asset and Configuration Management
Knowledge Management
Managing Communications and Commitment
Managing Organization and Stakeholder Change
Stakeholder Management
Service Operation
Problem Management
Incident Management
Event Management
Request Fulfillment

Processes, activities and functions S T O

Access Management
Server Management and Support
Network Management
Database Administration
Mainframe Management
Directory Services Management
Internet/Web Management
Middleware Management
Desktop Support
Storage and Archive
Facilities and Data Centre Management
IT Operations
Monitoring and Control
Continual Service Improvement
7-Step Improvement Process
Service Measurement
Service Reporting

Separation of Duties (SoD)
When growing in maturity, organizations tend to start getting in control of the
operational level before they master the tactical or strategic levels. Similarly,
organizations tend to start working their way up from the Technology
Management domain to the Information Management domain. This is illustrated
in the development paths of ITIL and MOF, during their subsequent versions.
BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DETERMINE/USE DESIGN/CONTROL BUILD/RUN
STRATEGIC
C
IR
E
TD
TACTICAL
O
R
T
LIG
/C
ND
S
E
OPERATIONAL
O
R
A
E
P
T
Figure 14. The 3x3 matrix for information support, enhanced

Both frameworks started out at the lower right side of the 3x3 SAME matrix, and
are now stretching into the Information Management domain. Both now present
more detailed guidance on managing business requests, on demand
management, on requirements engineering, on use cases, and on handling
functionality information requests. ITIL now also goes into details on sourcing
strategies and Patterns of Business Activity (PBA). But although both ITIL and
MOF now look into data management and functionality, the focus is still clearly
on the service delivery organization.
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
Continual improvement is an underlying paradigm in both ITIL and MOF. At the
highest level, both lifecycles are illustrations of the concept. Plan-Do-Check can
easily be recognized in the structures of these lifecycles. The Act step is very
explicit in ITIL, in the Continual Service Improvement phase, where MOF covers
it one spade deeper in the system.

Several functions and processes in ITIL clearly follow the PDCA model in their
documentation—for example, Security Management, Application Management,
and the 7-Step Improvement process are very explicitly expressed as PDCA
cycles. MOF does the very same in the process flow of the Reliability SMF, the
Policy SMF, the Operations SMF, the Service Monitoring and Control SMF, and in
processes like Establish IT Governance, Assess/Monitor/Control Risks, and
Comply with Directives.
PDCA cycles are often applied in the implementation of specific functions:
organizations plan a function at a certain stage of their development, they then
implement the function in their organization, and finally check the results at
various points to feed improvement initiatives. Continual improvement is
elementary in service organizations that need to provide better services at less
cost all the time, in fast changing environments.
Both frameworks make good use of the valuable principles in this management
paradigm.

Appendix B: Mapping of Processes,

Activities, Functions, and Other
Elements
The following tables present the mapping of MOF v4 versus ITIL V3. The section
of the table shows the ITIL components and explains where these can be found
in MOF. The second section shows the components that are exclusive to MOF,
and illustrates where these can be found in ITIL.
Table B-1. How MOF Covers ITIL Content
ITIL How MOF Covers ITIL Content
Service Strategy
Processes
Financial Management Financial Management SMF (PLAN)
Service Portfolio Develop and Evaluate IT Service Portfolio
Management (SPM) (process 4) in SMF Business-IT alignment (PLAN)
Demand Management Demand and Request Management (Activity in
(DM) process 3: Identify Demand and Manage
Business Requests) in SMF Business-IT
Alignment (PLAN)
Activities
Define the market Not explicit
Develop the offerings Not explicit
Develop strategic assets Not explicit
Prepare for execution Not explicit
Key terminology
Utility and Warranty Not explicit
Service assets (resources Outcome Business-IT Alignment SMF (PLAN).
and capabilities) MOF uses the term IT asset instead.
Service Catalogue In process 5: Service Level Management in the
Business-IT Alignment SMF (PLAN)
Accounting In process 3: Perform IT Accounting and
Reporting in the Financial Management SMF
(PLAN)
Compliance In process 3: Comply with directives, in the
Governance, Risk and Compliance SMF
(MANAGE)
Service valuation Covered by Value Realization in process 3:
(provisioning value, service Perform IT Accounting and Reporting, in the
value potential Financial Management SMF (PLAN)
Service package Not explicit

Service Design
Functions and Processes
Service Catalogue No separate process, but covered in the process
Management Service Level Management in Business-IT
Alignment SMF (PLAN)
Service Level Management Process in Business-IT Alignment SMF (PLAN)
Capacity Management In Reliability SMF (PLAN)
Availability Management In Reliability SMF (PLAN); Availability in ITIL
covers Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability: all
three are elements of Reliability Management
IT Service Continuity In Reliability SMF (PLAN)
Management
Information Security In Reliability SMF (PLAN), as an element of
Management “continuity and security” with a focus on data
security, in the Policy SMF, in the Service Level
Management process of the Business-IT
Alignment SMF, in the Project Planning SMF,
throughout the Operate phase, et cetera. Also
addressed in various MRs.
Supplier Management Not explicit as a process, but MOF defines a
Supplier Manager, a role that takes care of
supplier management
Activities
Requirements engineering Define Service Requirements activity in all three
processes of the Reliability SMF (PLAN);
Establish Service Requirements process in the
Financial Management SMF (PLAN);
Write the Functional Specification process in the
Project Planning SMF (DELIVER)
Data and Information Not an explicit process in MOF, but covered in
Management activities on data integrity, data security, data
access, data encryption, data classification, data
handling policies, data confidentiality, data
availability, data backup, et cetera
Application Management Applications are managed throughout the MOF
lifecycle and in the Manage layer; explicitly
covered by Envision, Project Planning, Build,
Stabilize and Deploy SMFs (DELIVER)

Key terminology
Service Requirements and Like in ITIL, both terms are used in MOF, in
Service Level various activities, processes, and SMFs, like
Requirements (SLR) (both Reliability (PLAN), Financial Management
terms are used in ITIL) (PLAN), Service Monitoring and Control
(OPERATE).
Business requirements Used in the Service Level Management process in
the Business-IT Alignment SMF;
in the Define Service Requirements activity in
Process 1: Planning in the Reliability SMF
(PLAN);
and in MRs like Project Plan Approved
(DELIVER), Service Alignment (PLAN)
Business Impact Analysis Covered at several positions, such as in the
(BIA) Business-IT Alignment SMF (PLAN), in the
Reliability SMF (PLAN), in the Financial
Management SMF (PLAN), in the Customer
Service SMF (OPERATE), in the Problem
Management SMF (OPERATE), in the Change
and Configuration SMF (OPERATE).
Service Level Agreements In process 5: Service Level Management, in the
(SLA) Business/IT Alignment SMF (PLAN). MOF refers
to SLAs throughout the framework.
Operational Level In process 5: Service Level Management, in the
Agreements (OLA) Business/IT Alignment SMF (PLAN). MOF refers
to OLAs throughout the framework.
Underpinning Contracts In process 5: Service Level Management, in the
(UC) Business/IT Alignment SMF (PLAN). MOF refers
to UCs throughout the framework, but seems to
restrict these to legal documents, which is not as
explicit in ITIL.
Service Transition
Transition planning and Process 4: Review the Deployment Complete
Support Milestone in Deploy SMF, Deliver (DELIVER)
Change Management Seven processes in Change and Configuration
SMF (MANAGE)
Service Asset and Change and Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
Configuration Management
(SACM)

Release and Deployment Three explicit processes in the Deploy SMF
Management (DELIVER);
Process 6: Release The Change in the Change
and Configuration SMF (MANAGE);
In a wider interpretation also covered by the entire
Deliver phase
Service Validation and Covered by test and review moments throughout
Testing the Build, Stabilize and Deploy SMFs, and in the
Release Readiness Review (DELIVER)
Evaluation Process 4: Review the Deployment Complete
Milestone in the Deploy SMF (DELIVER)
Knowledge Management Not explicit as a process, but covered in the
activity Creating knowledge management policies
in Process 2: Create policies in Policy SMF
(PLAN) and in the Customer Service SMF
(OPERATE);
Knowledge bases are often used in the Customer
Service SMF (OPERATE)
Activities
Managing Communications Not explicit
and Commitment
Stakeholder Management Not explicit
Managing Organization Not explicit
and Stakeholder Change
Key terminology
Service Design Package Not an explicit process, but MOF mention service
(SDP) packaging in the Business-IT Alignment MSF
(PLAN)
Service Transition Plan Covered in process 3 and 4: Master Project Plan
and Master Schedule, in the Project Planning
SMF (DELIVER). Transition is the responsibility of
the Solution Manager role. Milestones are used
for project phase transitions, such as in Test
Plans.
Request for Change (RFC) In the Change and Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
Change Advisory Board In the Change and Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
(CAB)
Emergency CAB (ECAB) Not an explicit role.
Schedule of Change (SC) In MOF this is called a Forward Schedule of
Change (FSC) (MANAGE)
Fallback situation In the Change and Configuration SMF
(remediation planning) (MANAGE), in the process Conduct a Pilot Test of
the Stabilize SMF (DELIVER), and in the Release
Readiness MR. MOF uses the terms Backout and
Rollback.
Post Implementation Process 7: Validate and Review the Change in the

Review (PIR) Change and Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
Impact Analysis In the activity Analyze the impact of the change
and identify reviewers, in the Change and
Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
Configuration Item (CI) In the Change and Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
Configuration Management In Change and Configuration SMF (MANAGE)
System (CMS)
Configuration Management MOF only refers to this term once, and uses CMS
Database (CMDB) in all other cases. In underpinning platform
documents, the term CMDB is still used.
Configuration baseline In the Project Planning, Build and Deploy SMFs
(DELIVER), in the Change and Configuration SMF
(MANAGE)
Release In the Plan phase and throughout the Deliver
phase, in the Change and Configuration SMF
(MANAGE), in the Release Readiness MR.
Release unit/package Not an explicit term, but MOF mentions the
packaging or releases.
Building and test plans Core elements in the Deliver phase.
Service release test Pilot test, Release Readiness Test in the Stabilize
SMF (DELIVER) and Review the Deployment
Complete Milestone in Deploy SMF (DELIVER)
Pilots Elementary to the Deliver phase, in the Stabilize
SMF (DELIVER)
Release policy Not explicit, but covered in the Policy SMF (PLAN)
Release and deployment Elementary to the Deliver phase, in the Project
plans Planning SMF (DELIVER)
Testing Integrated in Build, Stabilize and Deploy SMFs
(DELIVER)
Fit for purpose, fit for use Not explicit MOF terms
Service Knowledge Not an explicit MOF term, although MOF uses a
Management system Risk Knowledge Base in the GRC SMF, and a
(SKMS) Knowledge Base in the Service Monitoring and
Control SMF, the Customer Support SMF and the
Problem Management SMF (OPERATE)
Service Operations
Event Management Not an explicit process. Integrated in the Service
Monitoring and Control SMF (OPERATE)—for
example, in activities like Analyze the Event, and
Resolve or Escalate the Event.
Also in the Customer Service SMF (OPERATE):
request handling (service fulfillment request, New
Service Request, Incident resolution request).

Incident Management Not an explicit process. Integrated in the
Customer Service SMF (OPERATE): request
handling (service fulfillment request, New Service
Request, Incident resolution request)
Request Fulfillment Not an explicit process. Integrated in Customer
Service SMF (OPERATE): request handling
(service fulfillment request, New Service Request,
Incident resolution request)
Problem Management Problem Management SMF (OPERATE), defined
as purely proactive
Access Management Not an explicit process, but covered in
Governance, Risk and Compliance SMF
(MANAGE), in the Reliability SMF and the Policy
SMF (PLAN). Additional supporting
documentation in Microsoft Identity and Access
Management Series.
Service Desk A Service Desk or Customer Service Desk is an
element in the Customer Service SMF
(OPERATE)
IT Operations Management Not explicit in MOF, but covered in the Operations
SMF and the Service Monitoring and Control SMF
(OPERATE), and in the roles of IT Manager,
Operator, Administrator, Technology Area
Manager, Monitoring Manager, Scheduling
Manager, Operations Manager
Application Management Not explicit in MOF, but covered throughout the
lifecycle, and in the roles of Product Manager and
Solution Manager
Technical Management Not explicit in MOF, but covered in the same way
IT Operations Management is covered
Activities
Monitoring and Control Covered in the Service Monitoring and Control
SMF (OPERATE)
IT Operations Covered in the Operations SMF (OPERATE)
Mainframe Management Covered in the Operations SMF and the Service
Monitoring and Control SMF (OPERATE)
Server Management and Id.
Support
Network Management Id.
Storage and Archive Id.
Database administration Id.
Directory Service Id.
Management
Desktop Support Id.
Middleware Management Id.
Internet/web Management Id.

Facilities and Data Centre Id.
Management
Key terminology
Service Request MOF uses the term Service Fulfillment Request,
one of the user request types handled in the
Customer Support SMF (OPERATE)
Event Identical, in the Service Monitoring and Control
SMF (OPERATE)—for example, in activities like
Analyze the Event, and Resolve or Escalate the
Event.
Incident Identical, in Incident Resolution Requests
Problem Identical
Known Error Identical
Workaround Identical
Continual Service Improvement (CSI)
The 7-step Improvement Not a single process; incorporated in many
Process (also called 7-step elements of the MOF framework, such as the
Measurement Process) Service Alignment MR, the Portfolio MR, in
various roles, throughout the Business-IT
Alignment SMF, in the Reliability SMF (the
Monitoring and Improving Plans process), all over
the Service Monitoring and Control SMF
(OPERATE), etcetera.
Service Reporting In the Service Level Management process in the
Business-IT Alignment SMF (PLAN), in the
Service Monitoring and Control SMF (OPERATE),
in individual processes and SMFs throughout the
MOF framework, and in Management Reviews.
Service Measurement Covered in individual SMFs and processes, in
support of the reporting.
Key terminology
Service Improvement Plan Improvement initiatives are managed throughout
(SIP) the lifecycle, and the term is explicitly used in the
Operational Health MR, in the Service Monitoring
and Control SMF (OPERATE), and in process 3:
Monitoring and Improving Plans in the Reliability
SMF (PLAN)
DIKW (Data-Information- Not an explicit term
Knowledge-Wisdom)
Benchmarks/assessments Task in the IT Executive Officer role.
Benchmarking is used in the Financial
Management SMF (PLAN). Various internal
assessments are used, such as health
assessments and risk assessments.
ROI (Return on Used in measuring the value of IT services in
Investment, VOI (Value on relation to business outcome.
Investment)
Business Case An explicit element, such as in the Business Case
Analysis activity in the Financial Management
SMF.

Table B-2. How ITIL Covers MOF Content

MOF How ITIL Covers MOF Content
Manage Layer ITIL actually has two phases that support the true
lifecycle: Service Strategy is the “inner circle” and
Continual Service Improvement is the “outer
circle” in the framework. The elements in these
two circles are different from the elements in the
MOF Manage layer.
Governance, Risk and The elements of the GRC SMF in MOF are
Compliance (GRC) scattered over ITIL. Governance is mainly
covered in the Service Strategy book, but also in
organizational structures in various other phases.
Risk is specifically addressed in Service Strategy,
and in Continuous Service Improvement.
Compliance is addressed throughout the ITIL
service lifecycle.
Conclusion is that in both frameworks, GRC is
covered: explicitly in MOF, and more implicitly in
ITIL.
Service Management SMFs are the main components in the MOF
Functions (SMFs) framework. ITIL describes a limited number of
explicit functions: Service Desk, IT Operations
Management, Application Management and
Technical Management, but many more functions
are described under the label of “process.”
Conclusion: MOF follows a more explicit approach
to functions, being organizational capabilities
composed from People, Process and Technology.
Management Reviews MOF uses six explicit Management Reviews,
(MRs) controlling the transition to the next phase in the
lifecycle, and several smaller “toll gates.” ITIL also
knows a number of progress controls, in terms of
acceptance tests, organizational readiness
assessments, service operations readiness test,
deployment readiness, etcetera, but these are
described ‘deeper’ in the guidance.
Conclusion: both frameworks offer a significant
number of progress controls, but MOF has put
these in a prominent position in the framework.
Business-IT Alignment Both ITIL and MOF address business-IT
function alignment as a core goal of the framework. MOF
makes this explicit in one centralized Service
Management Function, covering strategy, demand
management, portfolio management and service
level management. In ITIL these elements are
covered in separate phases, functions, processes
and activities.
Reliability Management MOF has grouped a number of service quality
aspects in the term “reliability,” and grouped the
responsibility for this in the Reliability SMF. In ITIL
these service quality aspects are covered in
various phases, processes, functions and
activities in the lifecycle. Again, all components
are covered in both frameworks, but the
presentation and the approach towards
management is rather different.
SMF checklists All SMFs in MOF have checklists, enabling
decisions on how to use the SMF, and supporting
the assessment of the current state of the subject.
ITIL also has checklists throughout the framework,
but these are not standardized structures in the
guidance on ITIL components.
Team SMF Organizational structures are covered in both
frameworks, but presented role sets are quite
different. In ITIL, the organizational structures are
handled in each phase, in the relevant functions,
processes and activities. In MOF, these structures
are also described in the components (SMFs), but
there also is one central SMF in the Manage layer
addressing the organization, documenting a single
structured approach towards all roles in the
framework. The approach presented by MOF
follows the structures of the Microsoft Solutions
Framework.
Policy SMF Both framework use policies for all kinds of goals.
Again, MOF has concentrated the approach in
one SMF, where ITIL offers guidance in the
relevant components.
Customer Service SMF The Customer Service SMF in MOF covers the
handling of all customer calls, where ITIL has split
these over several functions, processes and
activities.
Envision, Project Planning, In MOF the project that creates the new or
Build, Stabilize, Deploy adapted service is documented in a series of five
SMF with two MRs. In ITIL the same activities are
documented in Transition Planning and Support,
Service Validation and Testing, Change
Management, Evaluation, and Release and
Deployment Management.

Cross Reference ITIL V3 and MOF 4.0

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Microsoft® Operations Framework

Cross Reference ITIL® V3 and MOF 4.0

Published: May 2009

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IT organizations are continuously challenged to deliver better IT services at lower

© Crown copyright 2007. Reproduced under license from OGC.

Figure 1. The ITIL service lifecycle

Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) is Microsoft’s structured approach to

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Background to IT Service Management

IT Service Management is the management of all people, processes, and

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People - Process - Technology (PPT)

Figure 3. The interrelationship of people, process, and technology

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Strategy - Tactics - Operations (STO)

Separation of Duties (SoD)

Business Information Support

Business Information Technology

determine design and build

Figure 5. Separation of Duties (SoD)

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The Strategic Alignment Model Enhanced (SAME)

BUSINESS I NFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DETE RMI NE /USE DES IGN/CONTROL BUI LD/RUN

Figure 6. The SAME model

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Figure 7. Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle

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Introduction to ITIL and MOF

Main Structure: The Service Lifecycle

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Figure 8. The ITIL V3 Service Lifecycle

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Main Structure: IT Service Lifecycle

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Alignment of ITIL and MOF

In terms of the approach, both frameworks use a lifecycle structure at the

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ITIL Service ITIL Service ITIL Service ITILService ITIL Continual

Figure 10. Comparing the lifecycles

People - Process - Technology (PPT)

STO and SoD, in SAME

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Figure 11. Positioning ITIL in the 3x3 SAME matrix

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BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

Figure 12. Positioning MOF in the 3x3 SAME matrix

Terminology and Definitions

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Training and Certification

Figure 13. The ITIL qualification scheme

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Applying MOF and ITIL in Practice

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organizational capabilities, composed from People, Process, and Technology

Strategy, Tactics, Operations

SMFs, processes and management reviews S T O